The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009

This book is about a Professor named Robert Langdon who specializes in hidden symbols. When he receives a call from a friend to speak in Washington he agrees, not knowing that the person who called was not his friend's secretary as he claimed, but rather his captor. Now he is in a race against time to find the "portal to Ancient Mysteries" in order to save his friend's life. It is an amazing book that has kept me turning its pages since I first picked it up. 

One of my favorite parts was a flashback of Professor Langdon teaching a freshman class about the Masons. When one of the students claimed that it sounded a lot like a freaky cult, and Langdon replied, 

"Too bad. If you think that's too freaky for you, then I know you would never want to join my cult." Then he explains, "On the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh." At the classes horrified expression he continued, "And if any of you care to join me, come down to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion. Open up your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand." 

Truer words have never been spoken. Whether or not it is because of religion, race, or any other category we almost always judge others by our fears. This same concept was shown in the essay we read in class A Black Man in Open Space. Everyone should cease their prejudice and take Professor Langdon's advice to open our minds.